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Aghora philosophy
Of the five faces of Shiva, Aghora, the fiery one, has generally thought of as being a terrifying form of shiva, especially for those who look at it from outside the tradition. For those who follow the tradition, however, aghora in the simplest, most direct route to unity with the divine. Often, it is said that the Sanskrit word ‘Ghora’ means ‘that which is terrible or very different’. As opposed to that, adding the negative prefix ‘a’ turns s ‘that which is these words into ‘Aghora’ which means ‘that which is simple and easy’. True to its nature, Aghora reveals a direct path to the divine, one which becomes very easy as soon as one relinquishes the fetters of the mind, but one which becomes difficult if one tries to follow it while still clinging to the desires and aspirations fuelled by the senses, shaped by the mind, and sanctioned by enculturation. It is a tradition of the Avadhutas that transcends all physical limitations to reach the state of union with the divine. An Aughar is called an Avadhut because such a seeker transcends all category distinctions, all prescriptions and of all ‘normal’ social structure. He remains constantly imbued with the ‘Mother’ vision; therefore, whatever he sees in the outside word appears to him as beautiful as the Mother.
In the vedas, the aghora form of shiva is mentioned on the one hand as beneficent, and on the other it is juxtaposed with his terrifying form called ‘Ghora’ in the mantra ‘Aghorebhyothgorebhyo, ghoraghoratrarebhyaha’. Such a vision of aghora is understood to be a non dual, formless form, a nirgun form. In its formless form, as baba kinaram mentions in viveksar, the living being (Jivatma), the God (paramatma) and the created words all are one and the same; there is no distinction between them. This ultimate reality, nirgun brahm, is free of the three fundamental qualities, or traits that form this word sattva, rajas and tamas. This formless god pervades all things and beings just as the sky or space pervade the cosmos. However, when nirgun brahm is looked at from the point of view of bhakti, the tradition of devotion, the same nirgun bhakti, the tradition of devotion, the same nirgun Brahm becomes divided into separate categories of devotee and devoted, worshipper and worshipped.
At this point the Jivatma is called hansa (the swan), while paramatma, God, is called paramhans (the great swan). When a Jivatma, a swan, attains complete liberation, it transcends to the category of the Great Swan. The distinction between jiva and paramatma or brahm arises because of the intervention of avidya. Avidya is the act of imagined characteristic on the innate or natural character of something. One of the most popular examples is the difference between a rope and a snake. The nature and character of a rope is very different from the nature and character of a snake, but when, in the dim light of dusk, a rope is perceived by the mind to be a snake imposition of an imagined characteristic on the true nature of the rope is avidya. Another name for avidya is Maya, or illusion. Baba Kinaram mentions that the five pranas (‘life force’) and their 25 characteristics (five characters for each pran), as well as the sense of jiva and Ishwar (God), are all so perceived because of Maya, illusion. To be in a state of illusion is regarded as a shackled state called upadhi. To become free of this state and to perceive one’s true nature as god is Samadhi. Thus Avidya, Maya and upadhi are regarded as synonyms. The contrary state of Samadhi is reached by dissociation the mind from the illusion of Maya and allowing the jiva to realize its true nature, the brahm nature.
The word generated by illusion is extremely nascent; it is ephemeral. Even human body is ephemeral. The body has five knowledge instruments or organs the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin; and five actions instruments or organs the hands, feet, anus, genitals and mouth; and finally there is the last constituent, the antahkaran, variously translated as the soul, the heart, the consciousness or the inner self. This inner self is further divided into four subcategories of mind, intellect, conscience / desire, and ego. According to Baba Kinaram in the mind exists the desire, which motivates the senses? The mind is supported by pran, life force; the pran is supported by breath, breath is supported by shabdbrahm (or Brahm conceptualized as the primal vibration), and shabdbrahm is supported by its own natural state. While brahm is ever existent and indestructible, the body is ephemeral and mortal. All our relations, emotions, desires end with the body there force, keeping the ephemeral nature of the body in mind, one should not be proud of one’s form and beauty, nor get into egotistical involvements because of it. Controlling one’s mind, then, to wean it away ego identification with the body, and to inspire it towards one’s Brahm form, is the goal of ascetic practice.
This illusory distinction between jiva and brahm is a product of the process of creation itself. Baba Kinaram describes the process of creation beginning was the formless, nameless primal being, Satpurush. With its own desire, a word exploded from that Satpurush (Nad Brahm or pranav) which gave birth to the trinity of the three male gods Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiva) and a female power. With these emerged the five fundamental elements that constitute the cosmos the sky, the water, the fire, the air and the space or ether. The process of creation of the cosmos came into being. The female power Adi Shakti took the form of creative action and arranged for the creation, nurturing and destruction of the created world, with the help of the five fundamental elements and the three traits, (the gunas, that is, sattva being light and knowledge, rajas, as action and motivation and tamas as illusion and attachment), and with the support of the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Since everything is created by these primal elements, what exits outside in the world also exists within every being. The jiva and its soul, the atma, is perceived to be limited and fettered only so long as the senses motivate it to remain engrossed in the perceived world which is ever changing and ever dissolving. With the practice of sadhana, yogis dissociate their senses from the outside world and focus it to look inside, where they find the constant world of the everlasting brahm. It is this ability, then, which makes the yogis omniscient and omnipotent.
Such a realization comes from true love for one’s divine entity. Love here implies faith, devotion, practice and discipline. The knowledge of enlightenment, vidya (as opposed to Avidya), then, is a practical matter; it is a matter of experience. Such knowledge is not incumbent upon reading the scriptures but, in fact, is dependent upon experiencing the divine within one’s own self. To inculcate the practice and love for a union with oneself, one should continuously remember the name, the mantra given by the guru. This process deepens the love of the seeker for his divine, and focuses him inwards. Baba kinaram has mentioned that ‘So Ham’ is a mantra that is very easy to remember and focus continuously upon since it vibrates naturally with each inhalation and exhalation performed. This name remembrance can be of two kinds, spoken and unspoken. The unspoken method is called ajapajap, which happens silently within the seeker.
Of the five faces of Shiva, Aghora, the fiery one, has generally thought of as being a terrifying form of shiva, especially for those who look at it from outside the tradition. For those who follow the tradition, however, aghora in the simplest, most direct route to unity with the divine. Often, it is said that the Sanskrit word ‘Ghora’ means ‘that which is terrible or very different’. As opposed to that, adding the negative prefix ‘a’ turns s ‘that which is these words into ‘Aghora’ which means ‘that which is simple and easy’. True to its nature, Aghora reveals a direct path to the divine, one which becomes very easy as soon as one relinquishes the fetters of the mind, but one which becomes difficult if one tries to follow it while still clinging to the desires and aspirations fuelled by the senses, shaped by the mind, and sanctioned by enculturation. It is a tradition of the Avadhutas that transcends all physical limitations to reach the state of union with the divine. An Aughar is called an Avadhut because such a seeker transcends all category distinctions, all prescriptions and of all ‘normal’ social structure. He remains constantly imbued with the ‘Mother’ vision; therefore, whatever he sees in the outside word appears to him as beautiful as the Mother.
In the vedas, the aghora form of shiva is mentioned on the one hand as beneficent, and on the other it is juxtaposed with his terrifying form called ‘Ghora’ in the mantra ‘Aghorebhyothgorebhyo, ghoraghoratrarebhyaha’. Such a vision of aghora is understood to be a non dual, formless form, a nirgun form. In its formless form, as baba kinaram mentions in viveksar, the living being (Jivatma), the God (paramatma) and the created words all are one and the same; there is no distinction between them. This ultimate reality, nirgun brahm, is free of the three fundamental qualities, or traits that form this word sattva, rajas and tamas. This formless god pervades all things and beings just as the sky or space pervade the cosmos. However, when nirgun brahm is looked at from the point of view of bhakti, the tradition of devotion, the same nirgun bhakti, the tradition of devotion, the same nirgun Brahm becomes divided into separate categories of devotee and devoted, worshipper and worshipped.
At this point the Jivatma is called hansa (the swan), while paramatma, God, is called paramhans (the great swan). When a Jivatma, a swan, attains complete liberation, it transcends to the category of the Great Swan. The distinction between jiva and paramatma or brahm arises because of the intervention of avidya. Avidya is the act of imagined characteristic on the innate or natural character of something. One of the most popular examples is the difference between a rope and a snake. The nature and character of a rope is very different from the nature and character of a snake, but when, in the dim light of dusk, a rope is perceived by the mind to be a snake imposition of an imagined characteristic on the true nature of the rope is avidya. Another name for avidya is Maya, or illusion. Baba Kinaram mentions that the five pranas (‘life force’) and their 25 characteristics (five characters for each pran), as well as the sense of jiva and Ishwar (God), are all so perceived because of Maya, illusion. To be in a state of illusion is regarded as a shackled state called upadhi. To become free of this state and to perceive one’s true nature as god is Samadhi. Thus Avidya, Maya and upadhi are regarded as synonyms. The contrary state of Samadhi is reached by dissociation the mind from the illusion of Maya and allowing the jiva to realize its true nature, the brahm nature.
The word generated by illusion is extremely nascent; it is ephemeral. Even human body is ephemeral. The body has five knowledge instruments or organs the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin; and five actions instruments or organs the hands, feet, anus, genitals and mouth; and finally there is the last constituent, the antahkaran, variously translated as the soul, the heart, the consciousness or the inner self. This inner self is further divided into four subcategories of mind, intellect, conscience / desire, and ego. According to Baba Kinaram in the mind exists the desire, which motivates the senses? The mind is supported by pran, life force; the pran is supported by breath, breath is supported by shabdbrahm (or Brahm conceptualized as the primal vibration), and shabdbrahm is supported by its own natural state. While brahm is ever existent and indestructible, the body is ephemeral and mortal. All our relations, emotions, desires end with the body there force, keeping the ephemeral nature of the body in mind, one should not be proud of one’s form and beauty, nor get into egotistical involvements because of it. Controlling one’s mind, then, to wean it away ego identification with the body, and to inspire it towards one’s Brahm form, is the goal of ascetic practice.
This illusory distinction between jiva and brahm is a product of the process of creation itself. Baba Kinaram describes the process of creation beginning was the formless, nameless primal being, Satpurush. With its own desire, a word exploded from that Satpurush (Nad Brahm or pranav) which gave birth to the trinity of the three male gods Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiva) and a female power. With these emerged the five fundamental elements that constitute the cosmos the sky, the water, the fire, the air and the space or ether. The process of creation of the cosmos came into being. The female power Adi Shakti took the form of creative action and arranged for the creation, nurturing and destruction of the created world, with the help of the five fundamental elements and the three traits, (the gunas, that is, sattva being light and knowledge, rajas, as action and motivation and tamas as illusion and attachment), and with the support of the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Since everything is created by these primal elements, what exits outside in the world also exists within every being. The jiva and its soul, the atma, is perceived to be limited and fettered only so long as the senses motivate it to remain engrossed in the perceived world which is ever changing and ever dissolving. With the practice of sadhana, yogis dissociate their senses from the outside world and focus it to look inside, where they find the constant world of the everlasting brahm. It is this ability, then, which makes the yogis omniscient and omnipotent.
Such a realization comes from true love for one’s divine entity. Love here implies faith, devotion, practice and discipline. The knowledge of enlightenment, vidya (as opposed to Avidya), then, is a practical matter; it is a matter of experience. Such knowledge is not incumbent upon reading the scriptures but, in fact, is dependent upon experiencing the divine within one’s own self. To inculcate the practice and love for a union with oneself, one should continuously remember the name, the mantra given by the guru. This process deepens the love of the seeker for his divine, and focuses him inwards. Baba kinaram has mentioned that ‘So Ham’ is a mantra that is very easy to remember and focus continuously upon since it vibrates naturally with each inhalation and exhalation performed. This name remembrance can be of two kinds, spoken and unspoken. The unspoken method is called ajapajap, which happens silently within the seeker.
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